Resilient wheel for vehicles



F. L. RAPSON. BESILIENT WHEEL FOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR- 1'- Patented Apr. 18, 1922.

2 SHEETg-SHEET I 1Q413Q189. I

' I F.L.RAPSON. BESILIENT WHEEL FOR VEHlCLES'.

' APPLICATION FILED MIAR. 192%! Patented Apr. 18, 1922.

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2 SHE -S.HEET 2.

UETE STATES EQE.

' nEsILInNT WH EL For, vEHIoiins.

- Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apr. 18, 1922' Original application filed September 16,1919, Serial No 324,082. Divided and this application filed March 1, 1921. Serial No. 448,918.

. T all whom it may concern Be it known that LFREDERIGK LIoNnnRAr- I SON, a subject of His Majesty the King of England, and resident of Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster, Kingdom of England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in or Relating to Resilient WVheels for Vehicles, (for which I have filed application in England May 14, 1919, Patent No. 141,927,) of which the following is .a specification. v V

This invention relates ,tofresilient wheels for vehicles, and particularly to pneumatic tyres of the kind wherein a resilient member is employed between an inner pneumatic tube or tubes and an outer cover formed'with beaded edges to engage in a Wheel rim of substantially the usual shape,

the said resilient member being formed with circumferential wings or extensions to wholly enclose the inner tube or tubes;

In tyres of the above kind it has previously been proposed to form rows of spaced depressions in the sides of the resilient member. In tyres provided with a resilient mem 'ber adapted to be disposed between the tread portion of the outer cover and the inner tube it has 'are'viously been proposed to form circumferential. cushion apertures by providing grooves in the said resilient member. o s

The-object of this invention is to provide a pneumatic tyre in which the inner tube will be positively safeguarded against ordinary puncture from road dbrist which will also be more resilient and cooler running than an ordinary pneumatic tyre and further, toprovide a pneumatic tyreinwhich the ObJQCtlOIlLblQ feature of a series of bounces occurring after the tyre has passed over an obstruction, as in the present-day pneumatic tyres, will be eliminated. A. further object is to so form the outer cover and shock absorbing and deflecting member that when the said tyre is under compression a'substantially flat surface will rest on the road to prevent skidding or rolling y i With these and other objects in view the invention is characterized in that the tread portion of the resilient member of the type above described is formed with circun1fer-- eii-tial grooves of concave shape in cross sectlon to provide cushion orifices between 1ntermediate ribs on the said member and the outer cover.

It will be seen that the said resilient member is so constructed that when distorted during each revolution of the tyre the tendency is to turn or deflect outwardly anyroad debris that has penetrated the outer cover.

The invention will now be described with According to one form of this invention,

'asshowir more particularlyin Figure 1; I

provide within an outer cover or tread cover 1 and a wheel rim 2 which may be divided in the usual manner, an annular shockv absorbing and deflecting member 3 of rubber or other suitable resilient ,inaterial preferably of soft rubber. This annular shock absorbing and deflecting member 3 which is adapted ,to'partly absorb shocks and de fleet any road debris entering the tyre from penetrating the inner tube, is formed with a trough 4 of substantially circular or oval shape in cross section. This trough i is adapted to containa pneumatic tube 5 of small cross sectional area, preferably about half the area of an inner pneumatic tube which would be employed for an outer cover of this size.

The sides of the trough 4 are gradually tapered or reduced to form wings 6 and these wings are enlarged to form circumferential extensions '7 which are adapted to lie bew een the" inner tube 5 and the tri-angularly shaped inner circumferential portions 7 S of the outer coverv l formed adjacent to the beaded edges 9 thereof which is adapted to lie in the usual curved circumferential grooves of the wheel rim 2. These extensions 7 3 are shaped to, provide a seating for the-inner tube 5 and fill up the space between the portions 8 of the outer cover landt'he rim 2'. The e'Xtensions ,7 my be triangularly shaped to overlapeach other as shown byth'e full line 1:0 in Figure 1 to permit of 'theassembling of ure 1.

stanti al in Figure 1,

the tyre on the rim.

to interlock with each other-or abut against each other shown in dotted lines at 11. llhen the inner tube 5 is inflated the'eXtensions 7 are forced hard on to the portions 8 of theouter cover to lock thebeads in the Thus everypart of the beads wheel rim 2. Q t 't' l l l or toe on er cover is posi ive y gripper am the inner tube 5 which is retalned in its normal shape, is saved against rust or other foreign matter which may adhere to the inner faceof the mm 2. The outer circumference or tread portion of the shock absorbinp; member 3 during each revolution of the tyre willtend to turn or deflect outwardly,

indicated by the arrow 16, any road d-.

bri's, such as nails, Hints, ete, thathas pene- 'trated the outer cover 1,'thereby, positively safeguarding the nner tube llagainst ordi- V nary punctures. H v

' The tread of the outer cover 1 is prefer} ably" shaped. to provide a number ofsulr square, oblong or rectangular shaped upstanding tread blocks 17; The tread is formed with.'circumfcrential glUOVQf-S and transverse grooves 18 of any suitable shape. These grooves 18 are preferably of concave shape or undercut, as shown in Fig- This form of tread forms the subiect matter of my co-pending; application Na 29,399/19- l prof rably arrange three circumferential rows of blocks 1'7 of any width on the tr l, but the inner blocl: may be twice the width of the outer, or vice versa,

When pair of inner tubes 5 isprovided prefer to arrange two rows of blocks wouldsufiice, as shown In use the pressure the triangular shaped portions 8 of theouter ooverl and the bead portions 9 of the outer cover in the bead flanges of the rim 2. When the weight is-on' the wheel the section of the tyre 0n the road surface will be com 1 pressed and the contacting surfaces of the v coverand deflecting member will not rub or slide upon each other but will distort to elim- I .inate or. ;partially eliminate the 0118111011 spaces 13 and the tyre will flatten and form It will be understood tl' at these extensions 7 may be of any shape shock absorbing and deflecting member It will beunderstood that the aperture or,

live rows of blocks 1? on the said tread, or on very light vehicle of the air in the inner tube will. always tend to press the eaten V sions T of the deflecting member 3 against a wide contact surface on the road. It will be seen that any shock from any uneven ness in the road surface will be transmitted through the deflecting member 3 to the pneumatic tube'fi; thus part of the shock will be absorbed by the deflecting member before reaching the inner tube By arranging the inner tube 5 within the deflecting memher 3 itwill be'almost impossible topun'cture the same and the perishable effect on the rubber usually caused by the canvas of the cover rubbing on theinner tube, and-the consequent excessive heat. when the wheel is traveling at a high speed, will be eliminated. v in a modified construction as shown in Figure 2, the deflecting member 3 is divided at one side and the meeting edges: 25 and 26 are suitably tapered. These tapered edges 25 and 26 are so arranged that they'abut or overlap each other.

The deflecting member 3 is also formed with circumferential or part circumferential air chambers or oriices 27 arranged adjacent to the ribs 12 and 15. These chambers 27 maybe filled with resilient core. The outer cover l is formed with square or rectangular shaped tread blocks 17 and lntervenlng c rcumferential and transverse concave grooves 18 in the previous construction, and is also ,il ormed so soft spongy rubber, cork, or witha hard with canvas layers 28 arrangedall round the 7.

interior face and beads, and with piano -wire beads 29 arranged in substantially the usual manner.

In. a furtl'ier modified construction, as

shown in Figure 3, the tread portion of the deflecting member 3 is formed with prefer ably a smgrle circrunferential aperture 30 which may be filled or partially filled with a core of hard rubber, spongj rubber, cork or other material of more or less resihency than the soft rubber employed for the main portion of the deflector 3. Thisapertu re 30 is of substantially oval or elliptica .pc in 'cross section and the ma or axis of this shaped aperture 30 is ranged radially and in the centre of the main portion the apertures may be of sector shape to extend vide a central circuinferential rib 12 and side ribs 15 and 32 preferably curvedf in cross section In thisinstance the wings 6 of the member 3 substantially meet each other to enclose the airtube 5. i

tended for light cars, as shown in Figure 4, the main body portion of the"deflect1ng member, 3 is of substantially inverted; T

shape in cross section" to' provide a central In a further modified construction lI 1-' upstanding circumferential rib 12 to engage with the inner surface of the tread of the outer cover 1. To the inner surface of the tread portion of the outer cover 1 is vulcanized or secured in any suitable manner, a pair of inwardly extended circumferential ribs 33 which are adapted to engage each side of the said upstanding rib 12 to prevent divided circumferentially or radially tofacilitate it being placed into position-in the outer cover and the divided portions may be dovetailed or otherwise suitably shaped to interlock with each other. It will be also understood that a plurality of inner tubes may be prevented in the deflecting member 3.

It will be seen that I have provided an unpuncturable tyre in which the weight is taken through a partially resilient deflector, wholly resilient tube, and the upper portion of the cover or tread.

In use a very resilient tyre is provided as the contact pressure on the tread of the tyre varies according to the surface of the road; for instance, should one side of the tread contact with a bump on the road, the shock absorber or deflector 3 is so constructed that it will be compressed or distorted and act as a resilient cushion to absorb or partially absorb the shock before it reaches the inner tube,

cation filed Sept 16, 1919, serial number 32 i,082.

lVhat I claim is 1. A resilient tire for vehicles comprising, in combination, an outer casing of sub stantially the usual shape, an inner tube, and a resilient member interposed between the said casing and the inner tube and pro vided with wings forming extensions adapted to enclose the inner tube, the outer periphery ofthe resilient member which en gages the inner side of the outer casing being provided with circumferential concave grooves providing cushion spaces upon opposite sides of an intermediate rib, said rib This application is a division of my applibeing'adapted to deflect road debris penctrating the outer casing away from the inner tube and in opposite directions upon opposite sides of the rib.

2. In a resilient Wheel for vehicles, a rim,

a casing seated on the rim, a pneumatic tube within the casing, and a resilient shock absorbing and transmitting member arranged between said casing and the pneumatic tube, said shock absorbin member being provided with one or more compressible ribs forming deflectors having their sides inclined from the points where the ribs engage the inner surface of the outer casing, whereby the greater the ribs are compressed the greater the resistance will the inclined sides have to road debris penetrating the outer casing.

3. In a resilient wheel for vehicles, an outer casing, a pneumatic tube within the casing, and a resilient shock. absorbing and transmitting member arranged between said casing and the pneumatic tube and formed with two or more circumferential concavities and one or more intermediate ribs, the sides of said ribs deflecting road debris outwardly from the inner tube and through the circumferential concavities.

I l. Ina resilient wheel for vehicles, a rim, an outer casing seated on the rim, a pneumatic tube within the casing,

ber arranged between said casing and pneumatic tube and wholly surrounding said tube tween the said casing and the inner tube and provided with wings forming extensions adapted to enclose the inner tube, the outer periphery of the resilient member being provided with circumferential substantially concave grooves providing cushion spaces upon opposite sides of intermediate ribs, and inwardly extending circumferential ribs on the tread portion of the outer casin j engaging each side of the central one of said ribs.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name. FRED. LIONEL RAPSON.

and a resili- .ent shock absorbing and transmitting mem- 

